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And make some coffee, added Dan.
All right, Tom replied. Only theres a lot of canned baked beans down there. Whats the matter with those?
Search me, said Dan. Suppose you heat some up and well find out. Beans sound better than eggs to yours truly.
I suppose that, as Toms the cook, he had better give us what he thinks best, said Nelson.
Maybe, Dan replied, only it gives him a terrible power over the rest of us. If he should get a grouch, we might have nothing but pilot bread and water.
Youll have to be good to me, said Tom with a grin as he started down the steps to the engine room.
Oh, we will be, answered Dan earnestly; and to give weight to his words he aided Toms descent with a gentle but well-placed kick.
You get short rations for that, sung out the cook from below.
If I do, Ill go down there and eat up the ice box!
Say, Nelson, sang out Bob, what about that sloop over there? It looks as though she was trying to cross. Who has the right of way?
She has. Keep astern of her, answered Nelson.
Say! came a disgusted voice from below. We havent any can opener!
Thunder! exclaimed Nelson. Is that so? Have you looked among the knives?
Looked everywhere, answered Tom, except up on deck.
Use your teeth, Tommy, suggested Dan.
Let the beans go, and fry some eggs, called Bob.
Use the potato knife, said Nelson, and well get a new one when we go shopping.
All right, answered Tom. If I bust it there!
Did you? laughed Dan.
Short off! Say, Bob, lend me your knife a minute, will you?
A howl of laughter arose, and Toms flushed face appeared at the companion way.
Well, Ive got to get the lid off somehow, havent I? he asked with a grin.
Not necessarily with my new knife, answered Bob.
Ill tell you a way you can do it, said Dan soberly, and Tom, looking suspicious, asked how.
Why, you set the can on the stove and get it good and hot all through, and just as soon as it begins to boil hard the lid comes off.
Huh! And everything else, I guess, said Tom.
And we spend the rest of the cruise picking Boston baked beans off the cabin walls, supplemented Nelson. No explosions for me, if you please. I dont see why we should bother ourselves about the can, anyhow; its the cooks funeral.
Well, its your luncheon, Tom replied.
Its a job for the ships carpenter, said Bob. Call the carpenter.
I guess Im it, said Dan. Come on, Tommy, and well get the old thing open.
They disappeared together and for a minute or two the sound of merry laughter floated up from below, and the two on deck smiled in sympathy. Then there was a loud and triumphant chorus of Ah-h-h! and Dan emerged.
I want to try steering, he announced. Get out of there, Bob.
All right, but dont get gay, was the response. Dan tried to wither Bob with a glance as he took his place at the wheel. Then
Gosh! Dont she turn easy? Who-oa! Come back here, Mr. Vagabond! Say, Nel, how much does a tub like this cost?
Thirty-four hundred, this one. But theres been a lot of extras since then.
Honest? Say, thats a whole lot, isnt it? I suppose you could get one cheaper if you didnt have so much foolish mahogany and so many velvet cushions, eh?
Maybe. You thinking of buying a launch?
Id like to. Im dead stuck on this one, all right. A sailors life for me, fellows! And Dan tried to do a few steps of the hornpipe without letting go of the wheel. Nelson, laughing, disappeared to look after the engine, and with him, when he reappeared, came an appetizing odor of cooking.
Tommys laying the tablecloth, he announced. When grubs ready, you fellows go down and Ill take a turn at the wheel.
Get out! said Dan. Im helmsman or steersman, or whatever you call it. You run along and eat; Im not hungry yet.
How about it, Bob? asked Nelson. Bob looked doubtful.
Im afraid hell run us against the rocks over there just for a joke.
Honest, I wont, exclaimed Dan earnestly. If I see a rock coming, Ill call you.
All right, laughed Nelson. See that you do.
At that moment there came eight silvery chimes from the clock in the engine room.
Sixteen bells on the Waterbury watch! Yo-ho, my lads, yo-ho! sang Dan. Say, what time is that, anyhow?
Twelve, answered Bob.
Twelve! Well, thats the craziest way of telling time I ever heard of! Whats it do when it gets to be one?
Strikes two bells.
Yes, indeed! Isnt it simple? asked Dan sarcastically.
When you get the hang of it, Nelson answered. All you have to do is to remember that its eight bells at twelve, four and eight. Then one bell is half-past, two bells one hour later, three bells half-past again, and
Thatll do for you, interrupted Dan. I dont want to learn it all the first lesson. But, look here, now; suppose I wake up in the night and hear the silly thing strike eight. How do I know whether its midnight or four in the morning?
Why, said Bob, all you have to do is to lie awake awhile. If the sun comes up it was four, and if it doesnt it was twelve.
Huh! I guess Ill go by my watch. The chap who invented the ships clock must have been crazy!
Lunch is ready! called Tom.
Go ahead, you fellows, said Dan. But dont eat it all up.
And you keep a watch where youre going, cautioned Nelson. If you get near a boat or anything, sing out; hear?
Aye, aye, sir!
Bet you he runs into something, muttered Bob as they went in.
No, he wont, said Nelson, because he knows that if he does we wont let him do any more steering. Ive got to wash my hands; theyre all over engine grease. You and Tommy sit down.
The table, which when not in use was stored against the stateroom roof, was set up between the berths and was covered with a clean linen cloth, adorned in one corner with the club flag and the private signal crossed. The napkins were similarly marked, as was the neat china service and the silverware.
Say, arent we swell? asked Tom admiringly. And I found a whole bunch of writing paper and envelopes in that locker over there, with the crossed flags and the boats name on them. Im going to write letters to everyone I know after lunch.
The menu this noon wasnt elaborate, but there was plenty to eat. A big dish of smoking baked beans, a pot of fragrant coffee, a jar of preserves, and the better part of a loaf of bread graced the board. And there was plenty of fresh butter and a can of evaporated cream.
This is swell! muttered Tom with his mouth full.
Tom, if I ever said you couldnt cook I retract, said Nelson. I apologize humbly. Pass the bread, please.
Oh, dont ask me to pass anything, begged Bob. Im starving. I suppose well have to leave a little for Dan, but I hate to do it!
Wonder how Dans getting on, said Nelson presently, after a sustained but busy silence. I should think hed be hungry by this time. He raised himself and glanced out of one of the open port lights. Then he flung down his napkin and hurried through the engine room to the cockpit.